Our syllabi and course policies are the first chance our students have to decide whether they can trust us to trust them. When we design our courses and interact with our students, then, let’s ask ourselves what it costs us to operate from a baseline of respect and inclusion.

Riverdale—and any other show looking to wander down this path—is walking in some well-worn footprints. Whatever a show might gain from including a student/teacher relationship, it isn’t novelty. Moreover, all of the shows on this list prove that executing this storyline effectively and in a way that treats it with the gravity it deserves is quite a challenge.

I decided to go with entirely random categories this year, rather than a more traditional list. The categories are not meant exhaustive and the lists of books within them are not (unlike my rankings of Hallmark Christmas movies) scientific—there will be plenty I loved that doesn’t show up here, because that is the nature of such things. (I’m thinking I’ll do some thoughts on my comics reading for the year later on, so none of those will be showing up here.) Enjoy!